Azure Pirates
45,000,000}} The Azure Pirates are a pirate crew originating from the South Blue. It was founded by Kite D. Drystan who wished to gather a group to aid in his ambition of finding the Seven Wonders of the Blue Sea. Since their establishment they have opposed the World Government and the on multiple occasions, both of which having posed as obstacles to their various goals. The Azure Pirates are primarily a peace main crew who favor the thrill of adventure over material gain, their captain's chief ideal. Remarkably, they often find themselves in the midst of problems which are not innately their own as they aspire to leave their mark wherever they go. While they certainly mean well, the interpretation of their intentions tends to vary throughout the seas. As of entering the , the crew has amassed a bounty of 45,000,000. Jolly Roger The flag of the Azure Pirates vaguely reflects the characteristics of their captain. It features the traditional skull and crossbones commonly found on the flags of pirate ships with a black background. Atop of the skull is blue hair with bangs that extend to the brow and a red bandanna with a golden pattern, much like the one worn by Drystan himself. Ironically, because of the red bandanna which takes up a sizable portion of the skull's scalp, the Azure Pirates' jolly roger features less of their eponymous color and more of the opposite. Crew Members The charisma of the crew's captain along with his optimism has resulted in the gradual amassing of their numbers. The Azure Pirates are best summarized as nothing more than a rag tag group of misfits. None of the members are known to have anything in common when it comes to their backgrounds, its founding members being a commoner boy and a rugged bandit who never had a true home. Throughout the majority of their time in the South Blue, the crew was primarily composed of younger members with all of them being under the age of eighteen until the recruitment of Chauncey - the first adult to join the crew as well as the oldest member at the time with his age being thirty-four. Oddly, after a streak of recruiting teenagers, the Azure Pirates went on a streak of recruiting adults - the next three members to join all being eighteen or older with the youngest of the trio, Gao Fang, being nineteen at the time of his joining. The members of the crew all come from different socioeconomic statuses with Makani being a roaming bandit who robbed others for a living and Kenny being a slave. In the middle is the captain who led a relatively normal life prior to his deciding to become a pirate while on the upper end is Gifford Neema who is the daughter of a rich steel magnate from an equally wealthy industrial city. The crew members also seem to differ drastically in personality with each certain to have another member foil them directly. The most notable contrast is between that of the crew's captain and the first mate who are so different in morals and attitude that they can't resist arguing harshly over the simplest of disputes. Somehow they have all managed to get along without harming each other severely, their mutual understanding of their camaraderie ultimately prevailing to keep them unified. Bakuto, the crew's doctor is a man of unusual character as he loves to wager all he has in the vein of greed while concurrently vowing to help the ill without payment. Crew Strength Ordinarily, a crew with such few members as the Azure Pirates would not be expected to be as strong - especially since they have fewer members acting as regular fighters than most. The primary fighters of the Azure Pirates prior to entering the Grand Line consist of its captain Drystan, first mate Makani, the doctor Bakuto, and the assassin Gao Fang - the last of which is the strongest. Although the other members of the crew do not usually act as regular fighters they boast supplemental skills that help in other areas such as reconnaissance. However, these less combat experienced members are not without their own fighting capabilities. Gifford Neema is known for her powerful kicks and feints with her dagger while Kenny is a burgeoning martial artist, having become a disciple of Gao after he agreed to train him. Chauncey is also underrated and is only not recognized among the crew's top fighters because of his unlikeliness to participate in battle - only fighting when the crew desperately needs him to. While Gao is the most experienced fighter of the crew, Chauncey has the highest level of physical strength and could overpower Gao with brute strength if he so desired. The crew has even fewer users than it does overall fighters. Prior to entering the Grand Line, there were only two Devl Fruit users - Drystan who has eaten the Koppu Koppu no Mi and Kenny who has eaten the Saru Saru no Mi, Model: Lemur - a and -type respectively. Both of them have been shown to be able to wield the abilities of their Devil Fruits proficiently - both using their powers to enhance their fighting strength. In transforming his limbs into shovels Drystan can increase the damage he deals whereas Kenny obtains a boost to his speed and agility. Drystan can also use his shovels to block, both their blades and shafts being able to absorb attacks up to a certain level of intensity. Despite less than half their crew members being Devil Fruit users at any point in their travels, the Devil Fruit users of the Azure Pirates have proven to be an essential component of the crew's arsenal. It can be said that hand-to-hand combat is the crew's unofficial specialization. As of entering the Grand Line, all but one member of the crew prefers martial arts as their primary form of combat and that is Chauncey who is primarily a weapon user. Drystan specializes in with the core of his fighting style being derived from the techniques of those he witnesses from others. This is because he has had no actual martial arts training and has been forced to learn self-defense methods on his own. Gao Fang is without a doubt the crew's most renowned martial artist. Hailing from , a breeding ground for martial artists, Gao was a member of both an infamous school prior to his exile. Bakuto, whose hand-to-hand combat skills barely surpass average in comparison to Gao Fang, has been able to engage stronger opponents with only slight trouble which shows that even the members of the crew who are less melee oriented are formidable. After entering the Grand Line, new additions to the crew have only served to enhance its overall strength. Previously lacking in mid to long-ranged combat, the recruitment of Arthur and Varvara , the consumer of the Sumi Sumi no Mi and a skilled sniper respectively, filling this much needed gap in the crew's skill set. The lobster Hagan has improved the crew's melee and mid-to-long range combat with his hammer wielding and . Since entering the Grand Line the crew has become more evened out in its specializations. Bounties Before entering the Grand Line, out of the seven Azure Pirates who composed the crew at that point only three had bounties. Two of the three bounties stemmed from the same incident - an uprising within the Kokumotsu Islands - while the third bounty was already given to the respective member, Gao Fang, for his indulgence in the and assassination career during which he executed several high profile figures. While Neema and Kenny both played roles in the Kokumotsu Islands uprising neither of them were given bounties as they were able to avoid attention, their actions being more covert than those of Drystan and Makani who directly fought against the dictatorship. Profiles |- | !valign="top" style="text-align: left;border: 1px solid #9a9381; background-color: #d5cebc;"| |- | !valign="top" style="text-align: left;border: 1px solid #9a9381; background-color: #d5cebc;"| |} Recruitment Originally, when Drystan decided to set sail he planned for his crew to have a maximum of thirteen members including himself. His reasoning for wanting to gather twelve additional members being that he wanted a very "unique" crew that represented various walks of life. He also wanted his crew to comprise of the typical professions found on a pirate ship such as that of a cook and a navigator, but he also wanted less common positions to be filled as well such as that of a chronicler to keep track of their gathered information and to keep a log of their travels. External Relationships Allies Rivals and Enemies Relationships Amongst the Crew Dreams Member's Dreams *'Drystan's' dream is to find the Seven Wonders of the Blue Sea. Although having always wanted to leave home, Drystan became more motivated after reading a book about these marvels. Interested in traveling the world and undergoing new experiences and not acquiring power, Drystan thought to accomplish such a daunting task would certainly triumph finding the One Piece and becoming . *'Makani's' dream to achieve the title of Greatest Swordsman in the World and to obtain a Meito grade sword, particularly the one featured in a fairy tale he heard as a child. While Makani isn't even sure if the sword he seeks even exists, he still strives for his goal out of wanting a better life. Having spent much of his existence doing harm onto others, Makani only wants to atone for his misdeeds by becoming stronger and protecting the same people he has hurt. He believes that by attaining the title which he seeks he will finally achieve the means to uphold his new found ideals. *'Neema's' dream is to become independent from her family's legacy and wealth. Having been spoon fed her entire life, Neema wishes to know what it is like to work for what she wants instead of simply having it given to her. Furthermore, she doesn't want to live off her father's fortune and would feel more successful living off her own earnings. *'Kenny's' dream is to purge the world of slavery and to find his birthplace, his true place of origin and heritage having been withheld from him by his captors. Kenny's secondary dream is to grow up and become a strong fighter so the stronger members of the crew won't always have to protect him. *'Chauncey's' dream is to recreate the sacred ancestral dish of his people so he can finally be recognized as the grand master chef of his homeland as per tradition. As the ingredients for the dish are scattered throughout the world, Chauncey joined the Azure Pirates so he would have some company along his pilgrimage. He also enjoys cooking for the crew and considers them his best critics as he greatly values their opinion of his food. *'Bakuto's' dream is to become a transplant surgeon who can perform operations for free. However, because of the cost of medical equipment is so high he wishes to procure a large fortune so he would be able to purchase said equipment while maintaining the cost of living. This has resulted in him becoming a compulsive gambler as his hopes of hitting a big jackpot have driven him to lose a lot of money. *'Fang's' dream is to reestablish his defunct martial arts school and begin teaching his fighting style to his own students. Being the last surviving member of his school, Gao knows that if he doesn't teach his style to others then it will die out after he is gone. Therefore, to get him started, he is looking for prospective students while traveling with the Azure Pirates - Kenny becoming his first disciple. He also wishes to clear his name and be able to return to Karate Island as a dignified martial arts master. *'Arthur's' dream is to write the most exciting story in history. After witnessing Kite D. Drystan in action, he came to believe that traveling with him will grant the necessary amount of material to do so. This was what ultimately prompted him to join the Azure Pirates. Since he was young Arthur was always fascinated with books and dreamt of writing his own. Before he could even learn to read, his mother read him stories about pirates which inspired him to create his own. However, he wanted his story to be about pirates who left a positive change on the world. Thus, he has come to see the Azure Pirates as the ideal main characters. *'Varvara's' dream is to break the world record for the furthest shot ever made. *'Hagan's' dream is to build a ship large enough to serve as a home for those who do not have one. Behind the Scenes This crew is a reiteration of the Blue Wonder Pirates also made by the same author on another fanon. Some members featured in this version, such as Chauncey and Bakuto, are not present in the previous with the inverse also being true. Also, some imported members in this version have significant alterations to their character including the point at which they joined the crew. For instance, Gao Fang joins much later than his counterpart due to a difference in story lines. Trivia *The author considered naming the crew either the Blue Hair Pirates or the Red Rag Pirates before settling on the Azure Pirates. *The base elements for the crew's jolly roger were derived from the template found here. *The base template for the crew's wanted posters was derived from here. Category:Pirate Crews Category:Azure Pirates